The US envoy to the UN, who recently called Russia’s actions in Syria “barbarism,” is hypocritical, because nothing in modern history is more barbaric than what the US has done in Iraq and Libya, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a fiery rebuke.

The American envoy to the UN, Samantha Power, blasted Russia on Sunday at a Security Council meeting, accusing Moscow of civilian deaths in Aleppo in the wake of the collapse of the ceasefire negotiated by the US and Russia.

“What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism, it is barbarism,” the US diplomat said in reference to the renewed hostilities in Syria.

She delivered an emotional speech, accusing Russia and Syria of attacks on aid workers, civilian infrastructure and residential areas, while omitting the fact that armed groups – including Al-Qaeda offshoot Al-Nusra Front – are in control of large parts of Aleppo and are using its population as human shields.

The US and its Western partners are trying to steer the world’s attention away from their airstrikes on the Syrian Army by accusing Russia of attacking a UN humanitarian convoy outside Aleppo, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian television.

“I would like to emphasize that the Americans and their Western allies, for one thing, want to distract public attention from what had happened in Deir ez-Zor,” Lavrov told NTV on Monday following an urgent session of the UN Security Council.

On September 17, a Syrian Army unit was hit by US-led coalition aircraft near the city of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, resulting in 62 troops being killed and many more being injured. Syrian officials later said the attacks lasted about an hour and had been visibly “intentional.” The Russian Defense Ministry said that the aircraft which carried out the airstrike had entered Syrian airspace from Iraq.

The inflow of asylum seekers in Sweden, a country with one of the most liberal laws towards refugees, is putting an increasing strain on the country’s police. There are now reportedly 55 areas in the country, where the law is not fully upheld.

From Russia Today

Female volunteers accused of having sex with migrants in Calais ‘Jungle’

A man has accused female volunteers working at the Calais Jungle of having sex with migrants, including underage boys, at the refugee camp on the French coast, the Independent reported.

Some unpaid charity workers are believed to be forging sexual relationships with adult refugees at the notorious Calais camp in northern France, according to Independent, which uncovered the scandal. Leaders of charity organizations say they are concerned about “predatory behavior” by both male and female volunteers, while others claim it is “natural” under the circumstances.

The issue was raised during a heated online thread on a Facebook account called Calais – People to People Solidarity, in which the man posted.

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

(JTA) — The European Jewish Congress described as “unconscionable” the recommendation by an adviser to the European Union’s top court to remove Hamas from the EU terrorism watch list.

The advocate general at the European Court of Justice made the recommendation late last week. It comes after the Council of European Union member states appealed a decision by the court in late 2014 to remove Hamas from the list based on a technicality.

The 2014 decision said that Hamas was placed on the list based on media reports and that the evidence against Hamas had not been properly examined and confirmed.

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Jonathan and Esther Pollard following his release from prison, Nov. 20, 2015. (Courtesy of Justice for Jonathan Pollard)

(JTA) — Jonathan Pollard told Israeli television in an impromptu interview in New York that “it’s going to take a miracle” for him to be allowed to live in Israel.

Pollard told Channel 1 in an interview that aired Friday evening that he feels the support of the people of Israel but not necessarily of their government.

The reporter, who ran into Pollard on the street, noted that during his meeting with President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not bring up Pollard. Netanyahu in past meetings has urged Obama to let Pollard immigrate to Israel, despite his five-year parole.Click here for the full story

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

5 Jewish things to watch out for at tonight’s Clinton-Trump debate

Hillary Clinton speaking on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 28, 2016 and Donald Trump speaking on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, July 21, 2016.(Paul Morigi/Getty Images, Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton meet Monday night for their first debate at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York.

There are two more coming, on Oct. 9 and Oct. 19, and a debate between their running mates, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., will take place Oct. 4.

There’s been a lot of what-iffing among the punditry ahead of the first debate, expected to be the most watched at least since 1980, when Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter faced off: Will Trump fudge the facts? Will the moderator, NBC anchor Lester Holt, call him out if he does? Will CLinton appeal to undecided millennials? How personal will it get – will Trump mention Bill Clinton’s infidelities, and will Hillary Clinton counter with Trump’s?

From Russia Today

Unaccompanied child migrants living in the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp are likely to go missing or risk being trafficked when France dismantles the shanty town, UNICEF has warned. It urged authorities to speed up the reunion of children with families in the UK.

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned that safeguards must be in place to protect lone children before the notorious camp is demolished by the end of the year.

“Before the bulldozers arrive, there must be robust plans to safeguard the hundreds of unaccompanied children currently stranded in the camp,” UNICEF UK deputy executive director Lily Caprani said.Click here for the full story

French President Francois Hollande personally vowed to “completely dismantle” the infamous ‘Jungle’ in Calais, as he visited the city that’s home to Europe’s biggest migrant slum, hosting some 10,000 asylum seekers.

Hollande arrived in the coastal town by helicopter on Monday. His statement built on his Saturday claim that he would disperse all the Jungle migrants across the country and came at a time when his main rival in the upcoming election, Nicolas Sarkozy, took aim at the Jungle with tough anti-migrant rhetoric of his own. Sarkozy had paid a similar visit just days earlier.

Hollande vowed that the Jungle would be “definitely dismantled.” He came to meet with city and law enforcement officials, but was not scheduled to visit the camp itself.

The camp will be destroyed “before winter,” he said. Like Sarkozy before him, Hollande also said he’s determined to make Britain “play its part” in resolving the crisis. Most migrants’ ultimate goal is to cross the Channel and settle in the UK.Click here for the full story

From Russia Today

‘I still have nightmares’: 13yo girl shot 5 times by Israeli soldiers speaks to RT

Published time: 26 Sep, 2016 11:12

A 13-year-old girl who was shot five times by Israeli soldiers has told RT she is still haunted by the incident, and hopes that soldiers will restrain themselves from shooting other “innocent children.” Her father says he wants Israel to compensate his family.

Speaking to RT, 13-year-old Bara’a Owaisi said she had traveled to a West Bank checkpoint after dreaming about her aunt, who had been killed there.

“She called to me saying, ‘I want to see you.’ So I went to the checkpoint to see where my aunt died, because I miss her,” Owaisi explained.

“The Israeli soldiers spoke to me, but I couldn’t understand them, so some Arab workers explained. They asked me to take my bag off my back and put it down. I removed my bag. I said I wanted to see where my aunt died. They asked for my aunt’s name and I answered…then they opened fire on me. The two soldiers said, ‘This one is a terrorist,’ and ordered the others to open fire,” she said.Click here for the full story

From Russia Today

Taliban rules 10% of Afghan population, contests 20% more – US general

Fifteen years after the US invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban controls 10 percent of the country’s population. However, a top US commander fears the extremist group could potential rule over a third of Afghans following gains from the US-supported government in Kabul.

Army Gen. John Nicholson, who leads NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said the Afghan security troops, which took over from the US in 2014, remain under constant pressure from the insurgents.

Many government troops have died following Taliban raids on their checkpoints, where they have been able to overwhelm the poorly-trained, poorly-equipped and poorly-led Afghan forces, the general said.

“This is a positive in the sense of the majority of the population’s under control of the government forces, and this is primarily the population centers and so on. And then the enemy is primarily in more rural areas that have less impact on the future of the country,” Nicholson said during a Pentagon press conference.Click here for the full story

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Chinese authorities reportedly crack down on Jewish revival in Kaifeng

September 26, 2016 11:56am

Chinese Jews have lived in peace for centuries in Kaifeng. (Courtesy of Shavei Israel)

(JTA) — Chinese authorities reportedly have cracked down on a Jewish revival in the city of Kaifeng.

The government has shut down Jewish organizations, prohibited residents identifying as Jewish from gathering for Jewish holidays and removed public identification of Jewish historical places on the city in central China, The New York Times reported over the weekend.

About 1,000 Kaifeng residents claim Jewish ancestry in a city population of 4.5 million, and about 100 to 200 have been active in Jewish religious and cultural activities, the Times reported.Click here for the full story

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

(JTA) — A fringe haredi Orthodox sect that has been living on the outskirts of Guatemala City for the past two years has relocated after saying it was harassed by local authorities.

The group, Lev Tahor, told the French news agency AFP that it moved Sunday to Oratorio, a village 30 miles east of Guatemala City. Members will live in tents on land that the sect purchased to build housing.

Earlier this month, authorities in Guatemala City raided the sect’s compound, separating children from their parents, amid allegations of physical and mental abuse. The crackdown came at the request of Israel’s Justice Ministry, the Orthodox news website Kikar Hashabbat reported at the time of the raid. Many members of the sect are Israeli.

AFP reported Monday that the Israeli ministry requested the raid to locate an Israeli girl who had been barred from leaving the country.Click here for the full story

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Iran is a contentious issue in first Clinton-Trump debate

September 26, 2016 11:27pm

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at the first Presidential Debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, September 26, 2016. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Iran nuclear deal was a key topic of contention in the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

In the national security portion of the debate Monday evening at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, Trump raised the deal reached last year between Iran and six major powers, led by the United States, which exchanged sanction relief for limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities.

“You started the Iran deal, that’s another beauty, they were about to fall” because of sanctions, Trump said. “They were choking on the sanctions and now they’re probably going to be a major power.”Click here for the full story

From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Netanyahu gets cheered and booed at ‘Hamilton’ performance

Benjamin Netanyahu caused quite a stir when he attended a performance of “Hamilton” in New York City, Sept. 24, 2016. (Screenshot from Twitter)

The average Broadway audience doesn’t start cheering and booing before the show starts. But it isn’t everyday that a loved and hated prime minister walks into a theater crowd with a gun-toting posse of security guards.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a performance of the smash hit musical “Hamilton” on Saturday night to wrap up a busy U.S. trip. When he entered to take his seat — accompanied by Secret Service guards, TSA security and some guys who “very much look like Mossad,” according to Wall Street Journal reporter Liz Hoffman — audience members couldn’t help but notice.

At what must be the safest #Hamilton since Obama. Netanyahu in the house, plus Sec Service, TSA and some guys who very much look like Mossad

From Russia Today

Drowned migrants ‘deserve to die’ – Egyptian MP

An Egyptian member of parliament has claimed the 168 migrants who drowned close to the Mediterranean on September 21 “deserved to die”. Elhamy Agina also blamed the parents of those involved for what happened.

Agina, who earlier this month called on women to accept the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), said parents “should be punished” after a fishing vessel en route to Italy sank off the port city of Rosetta in the Nile Delta with at least 450 people on board.

“The parents of young people who migrate illegally [and] get caught trying to do so or die should be punished…because these young people are reckless and have not found anyone to tell them right from wrong,” Agina said.

“If young people travel behind their parents’ backs or without their permission it is their own fault what happens and they do not deserve sympathy.”Click here for the full story